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For around a grand, you could start building a replica of the Blues Brothers' 1974 Dodge Monaco or Dirty Harry's 1972 Ford Custom 500.

Recreate the Bluesmobile Dodge Monaco or Dirty Harry's Ford Custom

Here we are once again in the Hell Garage, where you get your choice of eternity with one of two difficult-but-lovable project vehicles. Last week, we felt obliged to demonstrate the pitfalls of classic Porsche 911 and Chevrolet Corvette projects, but since that time the Hell Garage Demons have been binge-watching Malaise Era movies with cool Detroit iron, cross-referencing the cars in those movies on the Internet Movie Car Database, and then arguing about which cars would make the most rewarding-yet-punitive projects.

One thing led to another, and of course the subject of the early-to-mid-1970s American sedans driven by law enforcement in those movies came up, and next thing you know we've found starting points for two of the most iconic of movie cop cars: the Bluesmobile and Dirty Harry's Ford Custom 500.

The 1973 sequel to Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry was Magnum Force, featuring Dirty Harry on the trail of a hit squad of vigilante cops. The 1972 Ford Custom 500 that was driven by Eastwood's character features prominently in the climactic chase/gunfight sequence of the film, finally being obliterated by a bomb meant for Dirty Harry himself. It makes perfect sense that we'd all like to drive such a car, with its no-frills big-sedan presence, but these days just about all the full-sized Fords you'll find from that era are Galaxie and LTD hardtops; the Custom 500s were used up and tossed aside.

Fortunately, we have been persistent in our searching, and thus we have found you this 1972 Ford Custom sedan in Idaho (go here if the listing disappears), with an asking price of exactly one thousand dollars. Comes with a "running 351 cleavland" and "needs work on quarter panels," and the seller insists upon "an owner that is going to treat it well." Dirty Harry's '72 Custom 500 was an unmarked blue machine, so all you'd need to do here would be to get the body and paint spiffed up, redo the interior in fleet-car-grade tan vinyl, and maybe add some vintage gold-on-blue California plates.

This '74 Monaco was an actual Illinois State Police car, so it's the next best thing to a genuine Mount Prospect Police Department roller.

Of course, one of the most famous movie police cars of all time wasn't even driven by police characters: the 1974 Dodge Monaco driven by Dan Ackroyd's and John Belushi's characters in 1980's The Blues Brothers. Plenty of replica Bluesmobiles have been built over the years, though most of them don't seem to have the correct sprayed-over Mount Prospect Police Department markings.

You will want to go beyond just having a couple of guys in cheap black suits in your Bluesmobile, and that's why you'll need to start with this ex-Illinois State Police 1974 Dodge Monaco (go here if the listing disappears), priced at a very reasonable $1,300. This car doesn't have the "440-inch plant" referred to by Ackroyd's character in the film; instead, you get the 400-cubic-inch B engine, essentially a bored-out 383.

The seller says "Needs attention and patience. Also new home!" Just watch the movie a few dozen times, then replicate every dent, paint smudge, and rust patch on your own Bluesmobile.